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CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260705T105944Z
UID:36-1079984@christchurchpelham.org
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260921
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260921
CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20260629T154912
DESCRIPTION:Matthew\, one of Jesus’ disciples\, is probably to be identif
 ied with Levi\, a tax collector (“publican”) mentioned by Mark and Luk
 e. In the Gospel according to Matthew\, it is said that Matthew was seated
  in the custom-house when Jesus bade him\, “Follow me.” When Jesus cal
 led him\, he at once left everything\, followed the Master\, and later gav
 e a dinner for him. Mark and Luke also note that Levi was a tax collector.
  In all three accounts\, Jesus is severely criticized for eating a  the s
 ame table with tax collectors and other disreputable persons.\nTax collect
 ors were viewed as collaborators with the Roman State\, extortioners who t
 ook money from their own people to further the cause of Rome and to line t
 heir own pockets. They were spurned as traitors and outcasts. The Jews so 
 abhorred them that pious Pharisees refused to marry into a family that had
  a publican as a member. Clearly\, Matthew was hardly the type of man that
  a devout Jew would have had among his closest associates. Yet Jesus noted
  that it was the publican rather than the proud Pharisee who prayed the ac
 ceptable prayer\, “Lord\, be merciful to me\, a sinner.” There is freq
 uent favorable reference to publicans in the many sayings of Jesus in the 
 Gospel according to Matthew.\nMatthew was called early in Jesus’ ministr
 y\, but that he wrote the Gospel that bears his name is seriously doubted 
 by scholars. It is\, however\, generally accepted that his “logia” or 
 “sayings of Jesus” have been included in that Gospel.\nIt may be that 
 the author of the First Gospel took from Matthew’s work some of the nume
 rous parables and comments that make that Gospel so popular a source for h
 omilies and teaching. Through this Gospel\, especially\, Jesus speaks not 
 only of faith and eternal life\, but of duties toward one’s neighbors\, 
 family\, and even enemies.\nTradition has it that Matthew\, having convert
 ed many persons to Christianity in Judea\, traveled to the East\; but ther
 e is no certain evidence for this. He has been venerated as a martyr\, but
  the time and circumstances of his death are unknown.
LAST-MODIFIED:20260629T154912
LOCATION:
SUMMARY:Saint Matthew's Day
URL;VALUE=URI:https://christchurchpelham.org/events/saint-matthews-day/2026
 -09-21
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